In the past few years, we have seen the rise of electric scooters on our city sidewalks. These scooters are a great way to travel short distances just a little bit quicker and no one can deny the nostalgia of it all. However, most of us have at least one friend who has taken a tumble during their ride. From broken bones, to busted lips, and all the scrapes in between— there is no denying that scooter safety is an important practice.

Electric Scooters: Safe Riding

Consider a helmet

Let’s face it: most of us end up hopping on a scooter impulsively. You’re walking to a restaurant, you pass by a scooter, and decide to take it for a ride. I am almost certain that you don’t carry a helmet with you in your purse. However, due to the rise in electric scooter injuries, it might be best to avoid this set of wheels unless you have safety gear to back it up. Sure, a scooter can be fun but making it to the bar without breaking an arm is much more fun.

Don’t overload the scooter

These electric scooters are really only meant to carry one person at a time. However, for as many scooter injuries as we’ve heard about, we’ve seen twice as many scooters with two people on them. Its fun, cute, and might make for a perfect Instagram photo. But, these scooters are ultimately only designed to fit one rider at a time. When you add that extra body to the mix, you increase your chances of losing your balance, not being able to stop, and facing injury.

Don’t Drink and Ride

Electric scooter safety is our main concern and while the previous advice is absolutely important to remember, so is this other little bit of advice… Don’t drink and ride. When you’re walking from Hoppin’ to All American, you’ll likely stumble across a scooter on the way. No matter how many drinks you’ve had this evening, you decide to jump on. After all, it’s not like driving… right?

You might be surprised to find out that DUI’s come in all shapes and sizes. Furthermore, you can get in just as much trouble for riding drunk as you can for driving drunk. If it has a motor, you are are operating a motor vehicle under the influence.

DUI aside… drunk scooter riding is just not safe

Putting potential legal issues aside, operating any piece of machinery while you’re under the influence of alcohol can be dangerous. Your depth perception and reflexes are less than normal. For these reasons, among many others, riding under the influence can be dangerous.